Polish and Powder

Konad M51 - Zoya Happi

2010-12-22T07:33:00.000Z

Okay, another Konad today. I swatched and reviewed Zoya's Happi before, you can see it here.
As you know, I can't leave a good polish alone, so I added a small and subtle Konad to it :)

Using Konad plate M51 and special polish in white, I stamped the flower design over the tip alone, leaving the beauty of Happi showing through. It looks very pretty but was a little more bold that it looks in the pics.

A cute and very pretty design, always looks nice, though Happi is a stunning polish alone anyway.

This may be my last post before Christmas Day, so let me take this chance to wish you all a very happy holiday, I'll be back soon with more konads and polish swatches :o)

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps

2010-12-16T06:41:00.000Z

Today we have another CG polish, this time a popular old favourite and a fabulous one for Christmas!

Ruby Pumps have near legendary status in the polish world, and for good reason. This is not your average red glitter polish. It has amazing depth to its finish, it looks glassy, rich and sumptuous!

I used two coats and it applied very well, dried well and had a smoothish texture, but does benefit from a top coat, which only adds to its depth.

This is such a pretty polish, everyone should have this in their collection, its a classic for good reason, its lovely!

Konad M79 - Nubar Green Tea/Zoya Veruschuka

2010-12-09T06:50:00.000Z

A quick Konad for you today, using my two favourite greens, a matte and a regular polish :)

I used the base I showed you a few days ago, Nubar Green Tea, shown here............then I used Konad plate M79 and the polka dot design in Zoya Veruschuka, reviewed here.

These are both amazing greens, one is a creme the other a matte. This gives the manicure a lovely quality as both polishes have such different finishes, it really adds interest to the nail. It is subtle and classy but cute too!

I love polka dot mani's and love greens so this is a fav of mine :) Hope you like it to.....

Zoya - Dovima

2010-12-07T08:24:00.000Z

Today we have a Zoya for you, Dovima is a matte velvet polish and a stunner, love this one!

It has a wonderful, almost gunmetal quality to it, not metallic as such, but an almost charcoal black, filled with gunmetal shimmer, allowing it to sparkle and avoids that awful flat look some matte polishes can have. It is not a full matte velvet finish is accurate as it has a slight glow to it, which I like.

I used only two coats of this as the coverage is great, very fast drying as most mattes are, but not so fast that you can't get a good finish.

Nubar - Green Tea

2010-12-02T06:34:00.000Z

Well we have snow here in the UK this week, and the whole country seems to have ground to a halt! It is absolutely freezing here, I have on so many layers and its hard to get out of my lovely warm bed each morning.
I thought I would post a nice bright green for you today, to make up for the lack of green in the UK at present, lol ;o)

Nubar have done some amazing holo and duo-chrome polishes, but they also make some fabulous cremes, Green Tea is one such polish.

A very pretty pale green creme, this is one of my favourite shades from Nubar, I do have a weakness for greens :)
This is quite and opaque one, nice to apply, though a tad on the thick side. I used two coats and it dried well. Apologies for the bottle pics, should have mixed it more lol :)

This is such an unusual green, very delicate but strong all at the same time. It is as though it had double cream added as the green has this wonderful creamy tone to it, scrummy!

Konad M9 - Nails Inc Jermyn Street

2010-11-26T07:57:00.000Z

I showed you the freebie Nails Inc polishes from Glamour Mag, a while back.

I have a very quick and simple konad using Jermyn Street, a classic grey toned beige creme.

I used the buckle design from Konad plate M9 and stamped over each nail using konad black.

Very easy to do, a I think it looks classy and understated, perfect for the colour base.

Zoya - Veruschuka, the matte that rocks gloss!

2010-11-23T07:50:00.000Z

I have one of my favourite polishes for you today. From Zoya's fabulous range of matte/velvet finish polishes, this one is Veruschuka, a stunning rich, deep green.

I love these polishes, they apply wonderfully and dry super quick, great if you are in a rush. I know some people have issues with them chipping quickly, seems to be an thing with mattes, but I tend to get three days from these, which I think is pretty great. I use a base coat though, Orly Nail Armour is a fav of mine and seems to react well with my nails and all my polishes, including mattes.

Veruschuka has a lovely velvet finish, not flat matte, but still has a slight sheen. The green is intense and really wonderful and dark, but still green. This is so pretty.......but it gets even better.........

Adding a top coat makes this polish INCREDIBLE!!!!!!! Seriously, I know its nuts to make a matte polish glossy, but it is totally worth doing with this one. It shows so much sparkle its crazy! I use Nubar Diamont TC for Zoyas, as I find my usual Seche Vite shrinks Zoyas badly, the Nubar works the same, dries fast and never shrinks! Love it!

See how pretty this looks?
It just comes alive with some shine......amazing. See how it picks up the sparkles?

Konad M79 - China Glaze Agent Lavender/Harmony

2010-11-19T06:48:00.000Z

Hi Girls :)

Today I have a Konad design for you. I used CG Agent Lavender for the base, which I swatched here. This proved to be a popular polish, one everyone seems to love. It also happens to be a perfect base for a Konad, so here is one to try :)

I used plate M79 and the crossed lace design. I used the lovely chrome polish, CG Harmony for the design as these work so well for Konads.

This is one of my favourite looks, as the creme base with metallic design always makes a great combination. I urge you to get as many of the CH chrome type polishes for Konading with, as they are amazing.

China Glaze - Agent Lavender

2010-11-16T07:55:00.000Z

Here is another China Glaze swatch for you today, this time we have Agent Lavender, a wonderful light lilac creme polish.

I love this colour, it is one that just always looks great, it also makes a wonderful base for konad designs. It is a lighter lilac shade, leaning more towards a grey lavender. Good to apply, was a tad streaky on the first coat, but most cremes can be, second coat evened things up but it may have benefited from a third one. Average drying time.

Normally I would reserve lilacs for spring/summer, but as this has a definite grey tone it works equally well in the colder months too, so that is a huge plus.

Konad M78 - Nails Inc Hamstead Heath

2010-11-12T07:09:00.004Z

After swatching the Nails Inc freebies on Monday, review here, I decided to konad a couple of them, one I will post now......

First up is Hampstead Heath, that lovely rich, slightly raspberry toned red.

I used Konad plate M78 and stamped the design in Konad white. Very quick and easy, as most Konads are. Looks kinda cute, if a little busy. I usually go for something a tad more simple, but its fun to go mad once in a while ;)

This really reminds me of a bandana, it has that same colouring and design feel LOL

Free Nails Inc polish with Glamour Mag!

2010-11-08T11:34:00.002Z

HI Girls!

Glamour magazine in the UK is giving away a free Nails Inc polish in their December issue. They are worth £11 each but you can get them for the cover price of the mag, only £2. Bargain!

This seems to be an offer they run once a year and this time there is a choice of four really nice colours. There is nearly always a hot pink and a bright red in each giveaway, but this year the hot pink is gone and the red is a more wearable deeper tone. I have to say, all four colours are really pretty and worth hunting down. Luckily my Hubby went shopping on Saturday and brought me home all four! He is very good and always keeps an eye out for freebie offers on mags for me, he even made sure he got all four, bless him!

Okay, here are some swatches......

Warwick Avenue- a sheer sugar pink, probably more suited for French Mani's.

I used three thick coats to get this opaque, so it can be done, just not as opaque as some Nails Incs.

Jermyn Street-a creme finish polish in a mushroomy taupe shade.

Very nice colour for Autumn/Winter, two coats used here.

Hampstead Heath-a rich deeper toned red creme.

Very opaque, only one coat used here.

Has a more raspberry tone to it. Very pretty, flattering red.

Savile Row-is a rich purple creme. One coat used here, but two would have been better.

It photographed more burgundy but it has a definite aubergine tone in real life. Very pretty.

I really liked all of these colours, so it is worth hunting them down. The mag only came out Thursday last week, so there should still be plenty around, but find them quick as these are always popular giveaways!

Konad M54 - China Glaze Stella

2010-11-05T06:55:00.000Z

As you know, I swatched CG's Stella a few days ago, you can see that post here.

I was not that impressed with it on my nails, wasn't sure the shade suited me, so, of course, out came the Konad!!

I used Konad plate M54 and the white special polish to do the design. A quick stamp top and bottom of each nail, and we were good to go!

This really helped to tone down the ageing magenta of this polish and I liked it a lot more Konaded than bare. What do you think?

China Glaze - Stella

2010-11-02T06:57:00.000Z

This is one of my more recent polish buys, love purples......love CG......

This is a lovely polish, nice and opaque, good to go in two coats, smooth application and fairly quick drying time.

It is a rich magenta purple, with flashes of an almost copper glow, not obvious, but there all the same. It is very pretty but extremely similar to Cowgirl Up, so if you have one, you really do not need the other one.

Loved the polish in the bottle, not so much on my nails, I felt it made my hands look older, a very mature shade, think it may be the pink tone to the purple that causes that. Just my quirk I guess, many will probably love it.........me, I'll go with a Konad over the top to tone it down, that coming soon........

Fauxnad T29 - Halloween Scream mani!

2010-10-29T06:45:00.011+01:00

A final Halloween manicure for you today, just in time too!

For this one I used Zoya Dovima, a wonderful matte polish, as the base. I will be reviewing this one for you in a separate post in the near future.
I then used the Scream face design from Chez Delaney plate T29, using Konad Special polish in white.

I love this one, really simple but cute and humerous too, love those Scream films !

Fauxnad T32 - Halloween Mani

2010-10-26T06:45:00.015+01:00

I have another Halloween mani for you today.......

I used CG Ruby Pumps as the base, with Zoya Dovima on the ring finger. I then used a Chez Delaney plate T32 and the sexy vixen design. I used CH Emotion for the design, a pretty metallic pink, these CG metallics are just great for konads!

Very quick, easy and simple to do, cute with a bit of bling factor!

I will be reviewing both CG Ruby Pumps and Zoya Dovima in some posts in the near future.
Another Halloween design coming later in the week.......

Konad and Some Halloween Goodies

2010-10-22T06:13:00.000+01:00

Okay, today we have a bit of a mixed post for you.

I was sent last years OPI Halloween set, plus a Konad M13 Halloween plate a few weeks ago so thought I would save it for some seasonal konads. So today we have swatches of the set and a quick konad for you :) So lots of pics.......

The set is made up of four mini polishes and a fake tattoo set.
The polishes are good basic Halloween shades, a white, a black an orange and a fab sheer blue, which is in fact a glow in the dark polish.......

The white creme is called I Love Mummy, nothing amazing a regular white creme.

The black creme is, Witch Arm? Again a regular black creme.

The Orange creme is quite a bright vibrant one, called Tattoo You Want Candy?

The blue is Glow Ink the Dark and is very sheer, I am guessing it is deliberately so, as then it can be used over the top of other polishes without changing the colour too much but getting the glow in the dark effect to them. I used it here on its own and layered it to give a more solid feel, it took five coats to get this, nice but not worth the effort alone, use it over others instead. I tried to take pics of the glow effect but my camera just wouldn't capture it well, but it does glow in the dark.

Now for the Konad.......

I used China Glaze Fortune Teller on my nails then put OPI Tattoo You Want Candy on the ring finger. I then used M19 and konad black to add the cartoony skull design to the orange nail. Quick and simple.

You can get the OPI Halloween set and Konad M13 plate from Radiant Babe Beauty in the UK, while stocks last! Thanks for sending me these to look at :)
China Glaze Fortune Teller was in my collection anyway and I purchased that myself :)

Hope you liked it! Some more Halloween mani's coming in the next week.......

Sleek Palette - Storm

2010-10-19T09:11:00.000+01:00

Here is another of my Sleek Palette swatches/reviews. This week we have the Storm palette, I think this was one of the permanent range so you may be able to source one somewhere or find it on ebay.

My previous Sleek palette swatches can be seen here: Bohemian, Safari and Graphite.

I knew I had to get this one as it is stacked full of neutrals and makes a great staple for any cosmetic collection. Great for days when you are not feeling so brave, or just want to look more natural.

This palette has a mix of matte and shimmery, though more shimmery shades this time, nine out of the twelve. It is full of browns, beiges, with a few deeper shades of green, blue and grey for good measure.

Colours inside:

1. Beige Gold metallic
2. Buttermilk metallic
3. Beige matte
4. Gold metallic
5. Pink metallic
6. Deep red rust metallic
7. Brown metallic
8. Dark grey metallic
9. Deep moss green metallic
10. Dark navy metallic
11. Mid brown matte
12. Black matte

This is a great palette for more natural looks, though very heavy on shimmer and metallics so not as subtle as your average neutral.

Konad M69 - Zoya Deidra

2010-10-15T11:23:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone !!

Okay, Konad day again...... today I am konading over Zoya Deidra, swatched last week, you can see that here.

I used plate M69 and the design that looks like knitting. I placed it over the base of each nail and used Konad Princess in Chocolate for the print, to compliment Deidra's beige undertone.

I really loved this, it looked really unusual and I got loads of compliments while wearing it. Very different and almost snuggly and warm :) Perfect for the colder weather.

Zoya Happi

2010-10-12T07:45:00.000+01:00

HI Girls :o)

Okay, today I am showing you Zoya's Happi, a really pretty polish, bright, cheerful and oh so girly!

It is a wonderful sugar pink, with an almost duochrome effect - it kind of looks like oil on water, where it flashes a deep yellow/golden hue as the light catches it. This is one amazing polish, I love it!

Application was good, nice and smooth to apply. This was three coats, though two was pretty good as well.

This is definitely a new favourite of mine, it really did make me feel happy! ;)

Konad M65 - Gosh Black Passion/ChG Awaken

2010-10-06T10:48:00.000+01:00

Another simple Konad for you today. I am konading over Gosh Black Passion, a polish I swatched and reviewed here, a great polish this one, love it!

I decided to work with the slightly metallic look this can have in certain lights, but wanted a more subtle look too. I used ChG Awaken, a dark gunmetal chrome and Konad plate M65, going for a Gothic Rose look.

I really do like the subtly of this combination. You can't tell the design is there from a distance and it just catches the light as you move your hands, so pretty!

Zoya Deidra

2010-10-04T07:25:00.000+01:00

Another Zoya today, this time we have Deidra, a wonderful dusky mauve shade.

Beautiful to apply, very smooth and easy to work with. Good in two coats though I tend to do three anyway.

This is a very pretty polish, very unique. I love the deep mauve shade, but it has a surprising beige tone to it as well. It changes constantly with the light, looking almost lilac at times while a deep rich beige in other lights, stunning!

Fauxnad BM20 - Monochrome Madness!

2010-10-01T13:33:00.000+01:00

I decided to have a go at a mad monochrome manicure, just for a change.

I used five different bases, one for each nail:
Thumb - Misa Heaven White
Index - Orly Mirror Mirror
Middle China Glaze Recycle
Ring - Barry M Grey
Pinky - Nails Inc Elgin Avenue

I then taped half of each nail off and painted the remaining part of the nail with China Glaze Millenium.
Finally stamping over the top of that half with Konad black and the stripe design from BM 20.

It does look different, not sure if it works or not? I think not, I actually preferred it before I added the stripes LOL, ah well, never mind.
But I did love how one side looked grey and the other all striped, cool!

OPI - You Don't Know Jacques Suede

2010-09-28T07:41:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I posted an OPI suede, so thought it was time to put that right.....so, today I am going to show you You Don't Know Jacques suede.

I love suede and matte polishes, but my fav's are the ones that have some texture to them, you know the ones that are not one base colour but have that speckled granite look.....this is one of those. YDKJ is a lovely brown shade, textured with a beige fleck to add interest. The finish is just lovely, very interesting and not at all flat, as some mattes can look.

Application is not bad, you have to work quickly as they dry super fast, so it can get a bit thick if you are slower than the polish ;o) Two coats give perfect depth and finish, drying amazingly fast.

A great polish and one I will be wearing again. Looks just as fab with a shiny top coat as well, this really does pick up the textured finish and inner sparkle.

with top coat

Fauxnad BM10 - ChG Sunset Glow

2010-09-24T07:30:00.000+01:00

Another fauxnad today, a very simple one, quick and easy to do.

I used ChG Sunset Glow, an odd but lovely polish I swatched and reviewed here.

I then stamped over the top using the tiny flowers from Bundle Monster, plate BM10, I used ChG 2030 for the design.

This gives a very simple, clean look with the delicate scattered flowers over the nail. As the base polish has a matte finish I decided to seal it using Nubar V for men, its own matte top coat, this mattified the whole look , allowing the flowers to be seen more easily. The design is still very subtle one though, an understated look I really like.

OPI - Suzi & the Lifeguard

2010-09-21T08:03:00.000+01:00

Another swatch for you all today! This time we have an OPI, makes a nice change from my CG and Zoya's ;o)

This is a bit on the sheer side, but it a very pretty delicate pink shade, love pinks! This is very shimmery, almost verging on frosty in finish. This was four coats, three was okay, but I went for four to see if it would be more opaque, can't say it was much better, so stick with three, as four was just too thick as you can see from the pics. Application was fine, nice and smooth, no gloopyness.

This is a great subtle Summery shade, nice and clean looking, fresh even.

Benefit Box Powder/Blusher Comparison

2010-09-17T10:40:00.000+01:00

I thought it was time I showed my Benefit powders, as they sometimes seem to get a bad press. Mainly due, I think, to people expecting them to do something they are not designed for.

I love the Benefit box powders, I went through a phase of having to own them all, but at £23 a pop they are not cheap and I still have to buy a couple I am missing.

I love the whole thing, the packaging is adorable, I know some people hate the cardboard, but I love them. I love the little brushes that match the boxes. I also love the powders, they are very finely milled and all have a small amount of shimmer, but they never look glittery or over the top, the shimmer is very, very subtle, with the exception of the highlighter in the 10 powder, but then that is supposed to be more shimmery by nature!

I thought I would show you swatches of the ones I have for comparison purposes. Most of them are very sheer, I would say they were more complexion powders than blushers, though a couple are more pigmented and so can easily be classed as blusher.
By showing them here I hope to help you avoid disappointment when buying them, as some people buy the lighter ones as blusher, which I feel is not their purpose, they are more finishing powders or brighteners.
I would class the first three as complexion powders and the last three as blushers.

Okay out of the range, I have the following:

Georgia: Most definitely a complexion powder I think, you would have to be the palest white to use this as a blusher, though if you are pale it could be built up as a sheer blush I guess. A very pale peachy toned powder. It makes a perfect finishing powder for the whole face and is best used this way in my opinion.

Dandelion: This is one of my favourite ones. A sheer pink powder with a small amount of shimmer, not at all obvious, just glowy. I tend to use this one as a finishing powder and brightener, it gives a very warm look to your skin, just brightens nicely and makes you look healthy. It can be built up more as a pale blush, but it is still very pale, so I only use it as a blush when I want just a hint of colour.

10: Now this is another firm favourite of mine. It is a highlighter and contour/bronzer powder duo, they work so well and have a subtle shimmer to them. This is the only powder where I do use the brush that comes with it. I sweep it down the centre, getting one colour per side, then sweep across my cheek, I then buff it with another brush to soften the line. It gives a great contour and highlight with little effort, love it! I especially love the highlight colour, I use that a lot. It can also be mixed to give a lighter shade of bronzer. A very versatile powder this one!

Thrrrob: A very light sugar pink blush, though this could also be used as an all over powder if used carefully. This is still very sheer and needs to be built on the cheeks, but gives a lovely sugary glow to the cheek, a nice and subtle flushed look and my favourite of the blushers, great for summer.

Coralista: a very traditional blusher this one, mush more pigmented than the previous ones and you need to be a bit lighter on the hand with this one. It is a lovely peachy/coral toned blush and I like to use this one over Autumn/Winter time, preferring pinker tones for Spring/Summer.

Dallas: a good strongly pigmented blusher with a more russet tone, you have to have a very light hand with this or you will end up looking so bad! It could potentially be used as a bronzer too I guess, though you would have to dust it very, very lightly....

Below you can see the powders swatched, none of them are built up, I only rubbed my finger over them twice to get the colour shown, you could build them more if you wanted. See how sheer they are? I personally like that they are sheer, I hate harsh looking powders and blushers and prefer to build them than have one go on too heavy, but then my skin is fair/medium. Darker skin tones may not be as happy with them.

1. Georgia, 2. Dandelion,
3. 10 highlight, 3a. 10 contour, 3b. 10 mixed
4. Thrrrob, 5. Coralista, 6. Dallas

China Glaze - Sunset Glow

2010-09-14T09:01:00.000+01:00

Today I am swatching China Glaze Sunset Glow, a very pretty pink/gold polish. Not sure how you'd describe it, it has a pink base but a very strong gold flash to it, very stunning.

This is one weird polish, one of the strangest ones I have used to date.
It is very thick and incredibly opaque, probably more so than any other polish I own. This mani was done with just one coat, I didn't dare do two in case it went too thick, wonder if thinner would improve things?
It also dries to an odd matte finish, you can shine it up by adding a top coat of course, I used a TC of SV in my pics.

This was also mega hard to photograph, it just wouldn't show its true beauty, shy maybe? LOL

China Glaze Awakening Set and Radiant Babe discount code!

2010-09-10T12:14:00.000+01:00

I was very lucky to be sent this fab China Glaze Awakening set to review............

When I opened the parcel and saw these gorgeous glitter polishes I squealed in delight!
I adore China Glaze and love their glitters, so I quickly did some swatches of them for you to see. I will do proper swatches later on, as I wear them, some quickies for now though.....

left to right: Mummy May I, Zombie Zest, Ick-a-Bod-y, Fast Forward TC

Mummy May I - Wonderful purple glitter !!

A deep purple base with purple and fuchsia glitter. 2 coats.

Zombie Zest - Fabulous Green Glitter!

This is my favourite and the real star of the show for me. It has a deep green base and is packed with moss green glitter. 3 coats here and amazing!!!! Loving this.

Ick-a-Bod-y - Orange glitter!

Deep greenish base with loads of orange sparkle, 3 coats

Brighter orange than Fortune Teller, which has a much more obvious black base.

I am seriously loving this set, all the polishes are amazing, but the winner for me is Zombie Zest. I wasn't sure how flattering it would look from the bottle but on the nail its amazing ! Love, love, love it.

All applied really well and looked great in two coats, though I preferred three, my habit ;o)

They were not as textured as some glitters, quite fine textured, but would benefit from a top coat, luckily you get one included with the set!

You can buy these now from Radiant Babe Beauty in the UK, for a bargain price of only £19.95 plus p+p, a great price for three full sized polishes and a full sized top coat!

It is a limited Edition set for Halloween, so hurry, it is so worth owning.

You can find a direct link to the Awakening Set here.

Radiant Babe Beauty are also offering a 10% discount until December.

It is a One-Time Use code so make sure you use it well, be sure to check out the other things she sells, including Konad. Just enter the code CHRISTMAS at checkout.

Fauxnad BM11 - Zoya Kiki

2010-09-03T07:43:00.000+01:00

I wore my gorgeous Kiki for a few days a while ago, then decided to have a go at giving her a fauxnad. You can see the review and swatch of Kiki, here.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM11 and the heart/string design, then stamped using konad black.

Very simple, looks kind of laced-up. Still think I prefer the wonder of Kiki alone.......

Zoya - Charla

2010-08-31T07:14:00.000+01:00

Everyone knows this polish by now, it has reached near legend status in the polish world :)

This collection from Zoya includes some of the most amazing polishes ever, I adore them.
Charla is a wonderful mermaid shade, a tealy blue that sometimes looks very blue and other times it looks very green, it depends on the lighting. Incredible and beautiful. Most of my photos show the blue tones, was hard to capture the green for some reason.

inside with flash

Application was a dream, super smooth, no drag or gloop, just perfect and dried pretty quick too. It is quite sheer, but as it applies so well, this is not an issue at all. I used three coats here, there is a teeny VNL in the pics but it was not obvious at all in person.

It is an amazing finish, teeny tiny bits of glitter, almost glass flecked, that give a foil effect to the nail. It is very smooth in finish too, not grittiness at all, you don't even need a top coat to smooth it out.
Removal was a breeze, though I do use Zoya Remove + and let it sit on my polishes for a minute or two. I used two layers of base coat as I had heard mixed things about staining with these. I had no real issue there, I don't get smurf fingers as I don't rub my polishes off, just soak and pull off. But there was a tinge of blue on my nail, round the edge of where the base had been, but it came of pretty easily with an extra rub over the area. Though I would highly recommend a couple of coats of base coat with these, not worth the risk.

outdoors

I have a couple of others from the same collection, Mimi a purple and Ivanka a true green, will swatch those for you soon.

Fun Fauxnad T28 - OPI IT Color

2010-08-27T11:15:00.000+01:00

Okay, a very bright and fun mani for you today, this is not subtle, so be prepared for a bold in your face mani!

I had this polish on so decided to just go for it, it is OPI's 'IT' Color, I posted a review of it here. When I was wearing it I had some new plates arrive from Chez Delaney and saw the perfect design for this very color, it had to be done, it was that obvious!

I used plate T28 and konad special polish in black, and a very iconic image it is too.........

I love this, it is just so much fun, everyone who saw it loved and it made everyone smile, fab!
I am pretty sure I have seen this one done a few times before, it is a very iconic and obvious mani to do once you have this plate LOL.
So while not original, or classy, it is a great mani to do for a laugh.

China Glaze polish - Passion in the Pacific

2010-08-25T07:12:00.001+01:00

Another China Glaze swatch, you know how I love them ;o)

This time we have Passion in the Pacific, a rich tealy, blue/green shimmer/frost, which leans more green on me. Very beautiful and spring like in the bottle, loads of shimmer, almost metallic in appearance.

It applied a bit on the thin side, it was more sheer than some China Glazes I am used to. It needed three coats to get bottle colour.
This is such a pretty colour, though I am not altogether sure it suited me at all, so I didn't keep this one on for long. I think maybe it's just too shimmery and frosty for me.

My first ChG that I was not 100% keen on....... :o(

OPI - The 'IT' Color

2010-08-23T08:09:00.000+01:00

I am slowly collecting lots of polishes, but yellow is a shade I do not have too many of. Not sure why, but I guess I find it a hard colour to pull off. I love the pastel yellow of Nubars' Lemon Sorbet, but the standard bright yellows are just difficult for me.

OPI's 'IT' Color is a good one though, as it has a more golden yellow tone, giving it a richer hue than most yellows. I think the tint of orange in it makes it a more accessible yellow.

Application was a tad streaky on the first coat but pretty good on the second. I used three coats to get it even though, says more about my application skills than the polish ;o)

I do like this one, but it is still a bright in your face colour, nothing subtle about it at all. It is definitely a more classy yellow, but bold all the same.

Konad/Fauxnad French - M19, C02, Zoya Sari

2010-08-20T07:36:00.000+01:00

Another simple French mani today, you know how I love French's, especially with the odd Konad embellishment.

I used Zoya's Sari for the base colour, a very pretty sheer pinky peach shade for a natural look. Well, more natural looking than my usual white sheer Lucy, (my favourite one, even if it is not as natural as Sari). Two coats for the base, then tips stamped with konad M19 and white, then one more coat of Sari over the top to soften the tips.

I then used GCOCL fauxnad plate C02 for the design. These are great plates, I got them in an 18 plate set recently off Ebay. They are the hexagon plates that include the famous Hello Kitty image. This plate has the reverse designs too, so great for each hand, love that! I used Konad Princess special polish in Violet Pearl for the delicate floral/dots design.

Very happy with the result, though I think I went one coat too many on Sari, made the tip look a bit grubby ;o) Will try this one again with my fav French base Zoya Lucy

Nubar - Prize

2010-08-18T07:25:00.000+01:00

Another polish from the Nubar Prisms collection.
I previously showed you Absolute, which can be seen here, I adored this polish and it is right up there with my favourite polishes ever.

Prize is slightly different, Absolute was filled with teeny tiny holo micro-glitter giving it a more subtle look. Prize is filled with in your face chunky holo glitter, subtle this is not!
It is a deep pinky red, like a raspberry shade, not a true red at all, there is definitely a strong pink tone to this polish, but its as close to a red as I have seen a holo go. It is very pretty and very much a statement polish. The holo is obvious and sparkles like crazy. It is blingy in all lights.

Application was great, very nice to apply, good in two to three coats, I used three here. The drying time was pretty quick, as with Absolute. The finish is a little on the bumpy side, due to the large holo glitter, but nothing a coat of SV top coat wouldn't cure. My photos show it without a top coat so you can see the texture, but trust me, with a thick layer of top coat it will be smooth.

Very, very pretty this one, and madly sparkly. I still prefer Absolute, as I loved its soft blue tones. But Prize is a wonderful addition to any collection, blingy and wonderful.

Happy 101/Sweet Friends Award

2010-08-16T08:35:00.001+01:00

I am very lucky to have been given this award by PaintAwayGirls, thank you! xxx

The Rules:

1. Post who gave you this award

2. State 10 things you like

3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

Okay, so 10 things I like.........

My Family - love em all :)

My Dog - such a cutie pie, makes me feel happy and calm

Nail Polish - you knew that already ;)

Konad - you knew that too...

Filofax - can't live without mine, it's a must have for my dull brain, trouble is I love them all so tend to collect them!

Books - need these to escape to new worlds, when this one gets too much.

My eBook reader - I have so many paper books, this allows me to collect more, without needing to make room for more !

Marilyn Monroe - adored her since I was a child, beautiful, talented, mis-understood

Gadgets - I am a real geek when it comes to new electronic gadgets, love them, need them.

Thunderstorms - can't beat seeing the elements in action, especially when its dark and your tucked up in bed.

Okay, so 10 blogs I like:

(I have no idea who has been nominated already, so apologies for any repeats)

PHD (Polish Hoarder Disorder)

Nail Addicts Anonymous

Hope you enjoy looking at the nominated blogs.

Thank you again Girls for the nomination!

Konad M78 - OPI Dim Sum Plum

2010-08-13T07:24:00.000+01:00

After wearing Dim Sum Plum for a few days I decided to konad it, as usual ;o)
A review of OPI's Dim Sum Plum was posted previously, here.

I used plate M78 and the swirly-wave design. I used Konad pastel pink for the stamping.

I love my pinks so this one was one I loved, looks really girly and cute. The pinks just went so well with each other, love it!

This is a really good plate from Konad and this design always looks really great. Do not know where I would be without my Konad these days.

New Shoes and Matching Toes!

2010-08-11T07:01:00.000+01:00

I got these sandals in the recent sales, I am a sucker for animal prints so had to have them, saddo that I am......

Anyway, once I got them home I realised I could do a matching toe mani using Konad. How could I not, it was too much fun not to do it. Be warned, toe shots coming up..........

I used Misa Heaven White as the base, then stamped in black with plate M57. Then I filled in some of the spots with CG 2030.

Very simple, but kinda cute, if you like animal prints. Nothing amazing, but fun anyway :o)

OPI - Dim Sum Plum

2010-08-09T07:16:00.000+01:00

More swatches for you :o)

Here we have OPI's Dim Sum Plum, a rich, hot pink creme with a dusky quality not often seen, very nice.

This polish is very opaque, I used two coats here, but you could get away with one of you apply really neat (I don't). Dries well and nice application.

Love this colour, hot pinks can be garish and in your face, this one is more classy as the dusky tone mutes it ever so slightly.

Konad M51 - Urban Decay Graffiti

2010-08-06T07:33:00.000+01:00

Today I have a cute Konad for you. I used Urban Decay's Graffiti polish as the base, reviewed here.

I loved this polish, it is so pretty and the lilac tones lift the blue base giving a very unusual look to the polish, so pretty. I wanted to add a Konad,but nothing too garish or obvious, I just wanted to all to look soft and not spoil the lovely baby blue.

I used plate M51 and the large blossom on there. I used China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway for the design, it gave the tone I was after but was not too bold either.

I loved the result, very subtle and very, very cute! I didn't want to take this one off.

Nubar - Reclaim

2010-08-04T08:12:00.000+01:00

I bought this months ago and have only just gotten round to swatching it, bad girl! Had I known how amazing it looked I would have worn this ages ago.

Reclaim is part of Nubar's Going Green Collection. It is the only holographic polish in the collection, though not the only holo polish Nubar makes, it is probably one of the best ones as the holo effect is awesome. Just look at how amazing it is, stunning!

Application was incredible on this, very smooth, not runny or gloopy and very opaque. It went on like butter, just beautiful to apply, no bald spots or dragging.. I did two coats just to get a nice solid finish.

I love, love , love this! I do have a soft spot for holo's and green too, so a green holo that is proper green and not washed out, is just the best!

Urban Decay - Graffiti polish

2010-08-02T06:55:00.000+01:00

Another nail polish swatch for you today. This time we have one of the Urban Decay polishes, Graffiti.

This is a lovely colour, a soft baby blue with flashes of a pink/lilac shade, with a shimmery finish. Very pretty, though very sheer. I used four coats here and there was still some VNL. Though I just love the softness of the colour so the sheerness didn't worry me too much.
It was great to apply, nice and thin, not at all gloopy or draggy. Drying time was about the same as Zoya, so a little slower than usual, probably down to the four coats though.

The pinky-lilac flash is very strong, though not too easily seen in the photos, it is more obvious in real life. The polish hue changes in different lights, sometimes it looked very blue, other times you could see the lilac tones coming through.

Konad S06 - Bourjois No9 Prune Stellaire/ChG Harmony

2010-07-30T06:47:00.000+01:00

I swatched Bourjois No9 Prune Stellaire a few days ago, you can see that here.
Not that it isn't pretty on its own, but I went ahead and added a konad anyway, what the hell!

I used China Glaze Harmony and plate S06 for the design. Very quick and simple one to do.
Funny, adding the Konad seemed to make the polish look even more purple and the glitter less obvious, weird.

Zoya - Jo, my perfect blue

2010-07-28T07:18:00.000+01:00

Okay Girls, another from the new Zoya's I got a few months back. :o)

Jo is a stunning mid blue shimmer. It is almost a cornflower blue, not too bright, and very, very pretty.
Application was good, sheer on first coat better with two, but really bottle colour and opaque with three.

I am in love! This is the blue I have been searching for, it is just perfect.
I love blues like Zoya Tallulah and ChG Sky High Top. They are borderline brights, a lot more in your face blues. This is just right for me, as though double cream was added to the other two leaving me with a rich but soft cornflower blue, unbelievably pretty......see how it sparkles in the sunlight, ah bliss.

Bourjois polish - No9 Prune Stellaire

2010-07-26T09:49:00.000+01:00

I got this a few weeks ago and decided to swatch it today for you as I know a few people wanted to see these.

This polish only has a number on the label, no name. According to the Bourjois website, it is No9 Prune Stellaire. In the bottle this looked like a deep burgundy in some lights and more plum in others. On the nail it is a rich deep, plummy shade, filled with teeny purple and gold glitter.

This polish has an odd brush, very wide, short and flat, makes application easy for most nails, but was a bit awkward on my pinky. It went on nice and smooth, not gloopy at all. Supposed to be a one coater according to the bottle and it may be if you use a thicker coat. I used two thinner coats and it gave a good result, the glitter is not in your face, more sparse and subtle.

A hard one to photograph, my camera just couldn't seem to focus crisply on this one. Inside under bright lighting it looks very pretty and you can see the glitter sparkle, though more subtle than most. Without direct light it looks more vampy.

outdoors in shade

This is a very pretty polish, but I have to say, I think it is quite pricey for a High Street brand. This is £5.49 for only 8mls! I got mine in a 3 for 2 offer making it a bit cheaper. Now don't get me wrong, as I love Bourjois products, but considering most polishes are 15mls, this works out to almost £11 for the same amount !! Not so great......

The High Street can be very deceptive with polish prices, I find a lot of the so called 'cheap' brands have much smaller amounts on polish in the bottles, so be careful......

Konad M78 - Zoya Harley

2010-07-23T13:18:00.001+01:00

After wearing my Zoya Harley mani for a day, swatched here, I decided to add a Konad. Yeah, I know, no surprise there ;o)
I wanted to keep a monochrome look to it, so I stuck with the basic colours for the stamping too.

I added the mixed animal print design from Konad plate M78, I used Konad black for the stripes and white for the leopard prints.

A fairly simple but effective Konad, just fiddly trying not to mix the colours as you apply them on the plate.

Nubar - Greener

2010-07-21T14:19:00.000+01:00

Time to swatch another Nubar for you! Today we have Greener, from the Going Green Collection.

indoors, most accurate colour

A very pretty emerald green, with a glow from within finish and lovely sparkly shimmer. The application was good, not quite a smooth as my previous Nubar's, a little thicker, but still great to apply. Opaque in two coats.

sparkly finish, not quite so teal as pic shows,
but gives you an idea of finish

outdoors, shade

This is very similar to ChG Emerald Sparkle, the colour is the same but ES has glitter and this is a shimmer and glows from within. It is more classy than ES as it doesn't have the glitter, so if glitter is not your thing, this would be perfect for you.

Zoya - Harley

2010-07-19T10:42:00.000+01:00

A quick swatch for you today :o)

I love greys, heck, I love all colours, what can I say, lol........but, I do love greys, especially lighter ones. One of my favourites is Orly Mirror Mirror, which I swatched here. I also did a comparison of my other greys, which can be seen here.
Zoya Harley is similar to Mirror Mirror in that it is a lighter shade, but is a shimmery grey, which is not as common, most of my greys are cremes, so it is nice to have one that reflects light a bit more.

Indoors with flash

Application was fine, nice consistency, not too gloopy or draggy. It was good at two coats, nice and opaque. I did three though, as I was in a rush to go out and needed a third to neaten my finish ;o)
A little slow drying, I find Zoya's are a little slower anyway, I put this down to the fact that they usually need three coats.

It is such a lovely colour, the shimmer really lifts it and stops it looking dead, as some greys can. There is a silvery tone to it, which is very pretty.

outdoors

Konad M77 - China Glaze Spin Me Round

2010-07-17T09:02:00.000+01:00

I swatched this gorgeous China Glaze polish a while ago, you can see it here.....
I decided to add a very simple konad to this one, just an accent as the polish is so damn beautiful anyway. So a quick and easy one today!

I used Konad plate M77 and the feather design, using Konad Princess polish in Chocolate to compliment the nude shade of the polish. I added the feathers to only my ring finger and thumb.

As you can see, very simple and quite cute, though this polish looks amazing on its own anyway.

Gosh - Black Passion

2010-07-15T17:11:00.000+01:00

Another polish form a recent haul, one people were interested in seeing swatched, so here goes :o)

This is Gosh Black Passion, a deep charcoal black with a silver/grey teeny tiny sparkle effect, don't think its micro glitter its more like Zoya polishes can look, you know that flecked look?
It just lifts the colour and stops it being a true black, it is more of a deep charcoal with gunmetal effect flash.

Great application, smooth, not drag and opaque in two coats. Pretty much perfect.

I held off getting this for ages as I thought it was just a boring black, but it is very pretty and the tiny glitter/fleck adds texture and shimmer to the surface, just lovely! I like this far more than I thought I would and will wear it a lot.

OPI Polish - Love Me Tender

2010-07-13T19:20:00.000+01:00

I admit, I saw swatches of this online and it looked much pinker than it ended up being. It is a more coral or peachy pink that the pics I have seen of this. So I was a bit disappointed when I actually received it. However, it is a very pretty polish, there is a rich golden shimmer within this polish that it livens it up beautifully, though not the shade I had hoped for, it is not a complete disaster.

The application was good, nice consistency, a little sheer but it goes bottle colour in three coats. Two coats look good too, if you don't mind a subtle VNL. I went for three to make it look more solid.

Though not what I was expecting, Love Me Tender is a very pretty polish. I don't wear peaches that much, not sure why, I just don't seem drawn to them.
Maybe this will help me move towards the peach zone......

Fauxnad BM20 - Nails Inc Candy/Zoya Harlow

2010-07-09T19:31:00.000+01:00

I was intrigued to see how easy it would be to konad with a matte finish polish. I knew it must be possible, providing you were fast, as they dry so quickly. So I tried it out over a swatch I was doing at the time, Nails Inc Candy, reviewed here.

I used a design with thick lines, this would allow me maximum time to stamp without it drying too fast for me. The candy stripe design on Bundle Monster plate BM20 seemed to fit the bill. So I used Zoya's Harlow as its tones worked well with the base colour.

Success! You can use mattes if you work quick. It gives a great finish too, a shiny base with a textured matte finish, very pretty. I used a TC over it though, as I wanted to bring out the sparkle in Harlow that can be seen when shiny.

The thumb was a challenge as the BM full nail designs are too small for my thumbs, so creative use of the plate was needed, angling off the nail edge worked well enough for me.

Looks like I will be buying more mattes for stamping now :o)

Urban Decay polish haul!

2010-07-07T13:30:00.000+01:00

I love Urban Decay make-up and have quite a lot of it and use it all the time. I have never seen the nail polishes in the UK though, not sure why?
I had seen a few swatches of Bruised on some blogs recently and that got me hunting it down, low and behold I found some on eBay, so snapped them up. They were a steal at only £1.99 each!!!!

Burnout, Asphyxia, Graffiti, Cult and Bruised

Burnout is a pretty peach with a sprinkling of golden shimmer, quite sheer but very pretty and delicate.

Asphyxia is a gorgeous pink filled with lilac and gold shimmer, I am tempted to say this one is duo-chrome, in some lights the effect is stunning, then in others more subtle.

Graffiti is a baby blue with a more subtle flash of pinky/lilac, more subtle than Asphyxia but a lovely colour and very pretty.

Cult is very blingy, a rich tealy green filled with gold shimmer. Very pretty.

Bruised is a really fab one. It is a rich deep purple duo-chrome, it flashes green and blue. I love this one, so pretty and very unusual.

Here are bottle shots of the last two, so you can see the colours:

Cult

Bruised

I did a quick swatch for you, though it is very hard to capture the true beauty of these, they all have flashes of other colours but it would not show on camera.

For now, here are indoor with flash and outdoor shots.

indoors with flash

outdoors in sun

Hopefully when I finally swatch them on my nails it will show the colours better......

Zoya - Kiki

2010-07-05T12:44:00.000+01:00

I love Zoya's, as you all know :o)
I have been doing some mega Zoya haulage lately, so it's time to swatch another one.

Kiki is a gorgeous colour. I am a sucker for blue toned pinks, my ultimate weakness.
I must admit, when it first arrived I was stunned as it looks neon, I wasn't expecting it to be quite so bright. But now I have worn it, I love it, looks much nicer on that I was expecting and is so Summery and cheerful.

most true to life colour,

looks this way most of the time

It is a bright, in your face bubblegum pink, filled with fine micro-glitter, it could be described as being very much like the glass-flecked polishes. It has a strong blue and silvery flash to it. In one light the silver shows, in another you get a blue flash, amazing......
Application was great, needed two-three coats to get it opaque. It dries with a more satin finish and has a very slight texture to it, not rough by any means though.

outdoors, shade, shows more silver

indoors, flash, shows more blue now

I am genuinely surprised by how much I love this. When I opened the package I seriously thought I would not wear it, neons are not my thing. But Kiki has me round her little finger, she is amazing, so sparkly, pretty, girly and happy! If you like pinks even a little bit you will love this, it is fabulous and very different to your run of the mill polishes.

So pleased to own such a fun colour.

Fauxnad BM02 - Zoya Midori/ChG 2030

2010-07-02T18:17:00.000+01:00

I reviewed and swatched Zoya's Midori here.

I decided to add a fauxnad design and decided upon Bundle Monster plate BM02 and the flower design.

outdoors in sun,
you can see the design more clearly here

I first stamped part of the design in Konad Princess Chocolate at the base of each nail. I then stamped again using ChG 2030 at the tip of each nail. This gave a nice delicate flower to each nail in two complimentary colours, adding more interest to an already beautiful colour.

I was very pleased with the result and can see this design being used over and over again, very pretty.

indoors with flash

Cherry on Top Award

2010-07-01T19:25:00.000+01:00

I got tagged by Tilly and Reese for the Cherry on Top award, thanks so much girls you are amazing and so sweet to think of me :o)

The rules of the award are as follows:

Thank the person who gave this award to you. (already done, thanks again girls)
Copy the award and put it on your blog.
List 3 things which you love about your self.
Post a picture you love.
Tag 5 people you wish to pass this award on to.

3 things I love about myself......ooh, always hard to be positive about me.....

I like that I am willing to try new things.
I try to be kind to everyone and treat others as I wish to be treated.
I try to overcome all the obstacles that cross my path in life and to never give up on me and my ability to be brave!

Okay, so here is my pic.........

This photo means a lot to me as it always makes me smile.
It is my dog, a real cutie pie. She sometimes does these stupid faces and it always makes us laugh, she is so funny and loving, she always lifts my spirits.

Okay, so five blogs to give this award to, I have no idea who already has one or not, so here goes.....

Susie's Home and Hobbies
Polish Hoarder Disorder
Tassa's Blog
Lady of the Lane
Deez Nails

Nails Inc - Candy (In Style Mag freebie)

2010-06-30T09:18:00.000+01:00

I got this polish a few weeks back. It was part of a giveaway promotion with In Style magazine.

Pretty good application, a little chalky on the first coat, but not overly so, most pastels tend to be this way anyway. Second coat was great. Quite a thick polish this one.

A very delicate colour, somewhere in between pink and lilac..

Zoya polish - Midori

2010-06-28T15:58:00.000+01:00

Another Zoya swatch for you today, this time it is Midori, a popular green shade.

It is a wonderful glowy green, filled with subtle golden shimmer, which flashes when the light catches it, making Midori a very pretty green indeed.

Indoors, flash

outdoors, sun

I found this really smooth to apply, sheer on first coat but good and opaque with two coats. I used three here, to neaten my finish.

outdoors, sun

Last time I used a Zoya I used SV for the top coat and got major shrinkage, worse than with any other polish. This time I used Nubar Diamont for the TC and I got no shrinkage at all, much better. So will be using this with Zoya's from now on.

I really liked this colour, it is very pretty and easy to wear.

Konad M19, M81 - Easy French Mani

2010-06-24T19:26:00.001+01:00

Today I decided to show the Franch mani I did with Zoya's Lucy. As you know, I loved Lucy! ;o)
Really fabulous, non-streaky sheer white. Bliss!

I decided to add a little pattern with Konad, just to add interest.

I applied two coats of Lucy, then stamped the tips in konad white and M19, then applied a third coat of Lucy to soften to tips.
I then added the small design from plate M81 and used OPI Dim Sum Plum.

Nice and easy one to do and looks quite pretty too :o)

China Glaze polish - Spin Me Round

2010-06-23T06:30:00.001+01:00

Oooh, who doesn't love holographic polishes? I love them and China Glaze make some great ones.

This is from the older Kaleidoscope collection, these ones have slightly larger holographic glitter giving a very blingy and obvious sparkle, whereas the OMG collection had very fine glitter that gave a more refined, linear look.

This one is called Spin Me Round, it is a lovely gold/fawn colour and full of holographic goodness.
The polish sparkles and glitters all the time. The OMG collection really only shows its glitter in bright lights or sunlight, indoors they looked more plain, but these ones look blingy in all lights.

indoors, flash

It applied beautifully, a teeny bit more sheer than the OMG ones, but still good to go it two coats, three gives a more solid finish. It dries super-fast and the three coats took minutes to do, it was dry as soon as I finished the last finger.

indoors, flash

outdoors

I love this polish, it is nice that the colour is more nude toned, but so full of sparkle. It wore incredibly well too. As you know holographic polishes can chip quickly, my OMG ones tend to chip after a day, this one was chip free three days on, all without a top coat too (as some top coats tend to kill the holographic effect for some reason).

Konad M79 - OPI Green-which Village/ChG Custom Kicks

2010-06-21T07:52:00.000+01:00

This weeks PHD challenge was Analogous Color Scheme. We had to use three colours that were directly next to each other on the colour wheel, no blacks and no whites. Yellow, yellow/green and green for example. Or Blue, blue/purple and purple, you get the idea?!

I decided to go with green, green/blue and blue for my colours.

This was not as easy as you might think, as when you stamp, the colours are affected by whatever the base is. So when I experimented I found that if I stamped two colours over the same base, as they were colours that were very close, they ended up looking like the same colour........I almost gave up, but ended up settling on doing two different colour bases with one colour stamped over the top, even then the stamping colour looked different depending on the base it was stamped on! Blue ended up dark over green and lighter over tealy blue.

Here are the colours I used:
Green - OPI Green-wich Village (base 1)
Green\blue - ChG Custom Kicks, slightly teal toned (base 2)
Blue - Konad Blue for stamping

I painted my thumb, middle and pinky nails in Custom Kicks and index and ring in Green-wich Village. I then stamped using plate M79 polka dots and Konad Blue, this tied the nails together more. First time I have used the Konad polka dots, I always thought they looked too big, so always did polka dots by hand so I could get smaller ones, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice they looked, will use it more now ;o)

I am really pleased with this design, simple but effective. I would never have used these colours together normally, but as it was the challenge rules I had to. Once again, forced to go outside my comfort zone I end up with something I would never normally do but quite liked.

Watermelon Nail Art - ChG Watermelon Rind/Strawberry Fields

2010-06-17T06:49:00.000+01:00

I showed you a swatch/review of China Glazes Watermelon Rind here. Today I am showing the super cute nail art I did using this and another ChG polish Strawberry Fields, also from the Summer Days collection.
I mean, come on, how could I not, the name was begging for it! ;o)

I painted all nails except ring finger with Watermelon Rind, then ring finger with Strawberry Fields. I then painted the tip of the ring finger with Watermelon Rind, then once dry painted between the two colours with a thin white line, I used a nail art pen/brush but you can use any white. I then added black dots using Konad Black Pearl and a dotting tool.

I love this, it is so cute and perfect for the Summer!!

Another Zoya Haul

2010-06-16T13:39:00.000+01:00

The Zoya addiction has hit again, more scrummy-ness is here!

I am seriously loving these polishes, they are lovely, some amazing colours. They are a great relief after all the cremes I have bought in the last 6 months, finally some sparkle and shimmer enters my life !!!!!!

Some lovely pinks here.

Some sheers for French's (Sari, Bela),

a creme with subtle shimmer (Barbie),

a few shimmers (Mischa, Happi, Kiki) and a creme (Brie).

Then on to some purples and greens.

Shimmers (Deidra, Harmonie),

Glittery sparkle (Roxy, Ivanka)

and some mattes (Savita, Veruschka).

I am loving some of these, there are some fab ones and I think my Zoya lemming may finally be fulfilled.
I know the mattes chip fast, but they are so pretty, I love that finish.

Can't wait to start swatching them all :o)

China Glaze - Watermelon Rind

2010-06-15T12:25:00.000+01:00

I love the Summer Days collection by China Glaze, these polishes are just so pretty!
Today I am showing you Watermelon Rind, a gorgeous rich tealy green filled with lovely sparkly glass flecks.

These polishes are little more sheer, being a jelly type polish, but so worth it! Application was great, nice consistency with no drag. I used three coats for this and it dried a little slowly (as it was 3 coats), though could be sped up with a quick dry top coat.

The finish on these is just stunning, really pretty, summery polishes. I just love this shade, so nice. I think Nubar Earth is incredibly similar to this, exact same shade with a slightly different finish. I prefer this one myself, slightly more sparkle, but they are very close.

Bourjois/Gosh Polish Haul and a new bag!

2010-06-14T07:02:00.000+01:00

HI Girls :o)

Went shopping at the weekend and grabbed a few polishes that were on offer........

Boots were doing 3 for 2 on lots of cosmetic ranges, so I grabbed three new Bourjois polishes, No24, No9 and Rose Lounge. The ones with micro glitter are really pretty. The darker one flashes green/purple within the black/charcoal, sort of an oil-slick kind of shimmer. It is not as flashy on the nail, but it does have a definite green glow when the light catches it, very pretty and makes it a more interesting charcoal shade. The deep burgundy/purple is stunning, it has a strong purple/gold shimmer in the bottle and a depth on the nail as the glitter glows within the polish when the light catches it, subtle though, not blingy. The pale pink/beige cream is just a good basic clean nail shade, nice and safe :o)

No24, No9 and Rose Lounge

Superdrug were doing 2 Gosh polishes for £8 so I grabbed Black Passion and Green Hawaii. Black passion has micro glitter in, I think it is silver, hard to say really as it is more hidden in the black polish, but it stops it looking like a flat black and has a silvery sheen to it. Green Hawaii is a bright apple green filled with rainbow glitter.

I also popped into Debenhams to see if a bag I had fallen for was still there, it was so I grabbed that too. I got a bit cheeky as it was the last one, so I wheeled and dealed with them and got £5 off my £35 bag, so ended up paying only £30. I was very happy, not a pricey or flashy bag, but a cute one. I needed a grey bag and this fits the bill perfectly. It is made from gorgeous grey suede, and the frills are adorable!! It is not huge, just a nice neat grab bag, perfect for nights out.

Will be swatching the polishes as soon as I can :)
Hope you all had a great weekend, did you get anything new?

Union Jack Nail Art

2010-06-12T10:18:00.030+01:00

This was completed for PHD weekly nail art challenge, this week was Patriotic. So we had to do a mani using colours from our own flags. Well, I thought I'd have to do the actual flag, the Union Jack is very iconic.
I almost decided to miss this one out as I have never done freehand nail art before. But I went for it anyway....

Konad is my scapegoat, it gets me flashy nails with minimum effort, how on earth would I do the Union Jack freehand. Scary for a first timer!

I used a base of Barry M Cobalt Blue, then used nail art striper brushes in white and red for the stripes.
This was wicked hard! My hands are just not that steady so it was a real challenge to do this one, but a lot of fun too.

Hope you like the results. I was really pleased with it, especially as it was my first freehand attempt.

Polka Dot nail art - China Glaze Second Hand Silk/Misa I Will Survive

2010-06-11T07:11:00.001+01:00

I swatched China Glaze's Second Hand Silk a little while ago, it can be seen here. As you know, I loved it!
I couldn't resist adding some polka dots to the mani, pinks just look fab with black polka dots, had to do it......

So I used Misa I Will Survive, a rich, opaque black creme and used my smallest dotting tool to add some small, widely spaced polka dots.

I just loved this mani, and I had lots of compliments when I went shopping, most people asked what salon I got my nails done at! I was very surprised and flattered that everyone thought it had been professionally done. Isn't it lovely when people ask about your mani's, feels really nice.

I wore this for a few days as I loved it so much and only removed it when it chipped. Won't be long before I do this one again!

Konad M21 & M40 - Misa I Will Survive/ChG 2030

2010-06-09T09:09:00.000+01:00

Last weeks nail mani challenge by PHD, was Bling! We had to use Gold or Silver and rhinestones.
We had to make our nails super blingy, a look that can be quite OTT, but I had a go, knowing I would not like it, as I am not keen using golds on me, yuck. (other than for stamping)

I started by painting my nails in Misa I Will Survive, a black creme polish, then painted my ring finger in ChG 2030, so at least one nail was gold. I then stamped the splash design from plate M21 using ChG 2030, and applied it to all the black nails. It still actually looked kind of classy so I decided I had to make it look more bling stamped the crown from M40 in black on the gold nail. I then added rhinestones to the points of the crown, truly making it look tacky.....

I loved it till I put the crown and rhinestones on, but I had to follow the rules of the challenge somehow. Still it was something different for me and that is the reason I do the PHD challenges, it makes me move outside my comfort zone.

It's not my best work, or even my taste, but hey, I did the challenge LOL

Nubar polish - Absolute

2010-06-07T15:37:00.000+01:00

I love Nubar, they make some awesome polishes. They are just one of the best when it comes to duo-chromes and glittery polishes. I saw the Prisms collection and decided I had to try a couple of them.
The collection is made up of holo polishes, half the collection has very fine scattered holo, making them more subtle and the other half has more chunky holo glitter and are really blingy.
I had read a few reviews on them and went for this one, even though it is very sheer, something I usually hate, but the colour was just so unusual and pretty I had to give it a go........

Okay, so they are right, it is quite sheer, it took four coats to get the finish I was happy with. Three was acceptable but had very visible nail line (VNL), so I went for a fourth and that was the charm. Having said that my first two coats were thin ones, so it may be a three coater if you apply a little thicker.
Normally I hate doing so many coats, but I have to say, this formula was super smooth, thin and not draggy at all. It was a pleasure to use and dried fairly quickly, not as fast as some holo's, but way faster than standard polishes. I also think this polish is so beautiful that the effort is totally worth it!

I used Nubar's Diamont top coat (first time using it), this dries super fast, it was literally drying while I applied it! So four coats are not so much of an issue if you have a quick dry top coat to hand. I decided to give Nubar TC a try as I have heard great things about it and, as much as I love SV, I hate the shrinkage I sometimes get with it, so will be interesting to see if this helps.

I am in love with this polish. The colour is just so delicate and beautiful, a real soft, icy, almost aqua blue. It can look dusky indoors and more vivid outside. The holo effect is much more subtle than say ChG OMG polishes or on Nubar's other holo polish Reclaim, but you can see the blingy sparkles easily in sunlight and bright lighting, it is just not in your face, and I am happy with that, it is low level bling and sometimes we need something more classy. It does give it a lovely textured looking finish, almost stone-like with a flash of holo showing through when the light catches it.

How does it wear, as holo's don't always last too long? Well I love the ChG OMG polishes, but they wear bad on me, I am lucky if it doesn't chip within 24 hours, I put up with it as they are pretty. The older ChG Kaleidoscope polishes are a bit better.
This Nubar one is fab, 24 hours later, not a mark on it, still perfect. No chips, no shrinkage, nothing, looks as good as the moment I put it on and that is not bad for so many coats. I am very impressed with this polish.
Five days later and it looks amazing still, honestly, I have never had a mani last this long on me and not chip! Minimal tip wear (less than I get with SV shrinkage), teeny amount, and still mega shiny, this must be down to the Nubar Diamont top coat, this seems to be amazing stuff......

If you have been debating whether to get this one, go for it. The four coats are not really an issue, just give yourself a bit more time, the pay-off is so worth it.

I adore this polish so much, it is mega pretty and delicate! I am so pleased I bought a few from this collection, will be swatching those as well as soon as I can :o)

Nubar Haul!

2010-06-06T10:36:00.000+01:00

I love, love, love Nubar polishes. I don't have many, as they are a bit pricey, but the ones I have I adore.
So I thought it was time to add a few more to my collection.......

Greener, Conserve, Treasure, Absolute, Gem and Prize

I already have two polishes from the Going Green Collection, Wildlife and Reclaim, this time I have added two more......

Greener and Conserve (Going Green Collection)

Greener, a wonderful deep emerald green with depth and shimmer. Similar in colour to ChG Emerald Sparkle but without the glitter and with more depth, more subtle.

Conserve, a lovely mid green with teal shimmer

Then we have four from the Prisms Collection, two with delicate holographic shimmer and two with larger holographic glitter.

Treasure and Absolute

Treasure is a soft purple, with holo shimmer. Very subtle and incredibly pretty.
Tthese are more sheer and need about 3-4 coats, but dry quickly.

Absolute is my favourite, as you can see I have already used this one, swatch will be posted very shortly. A soft icey blue with holo shimmer. So very pretty and a lovely colour.

Now for the larger holo glitter duo, ready for the bling!

Gem and Prize

Gem is a really unusual polish. It is almost a duo-chrome, it flashes beige and pink, very pretty. Filled with larger holo glitter and very blingy.

Prize is a lovely pinky red. I would love to say it is proper red, but it isn't there is a definite pink tone to it, will swatch it soon so you can see......it is very pretty and very blingy!

These polishes are just lovely, and the Prisms collection ones are stunning! Absolute was the one that made me buy them, I adore its soft blue colour and the subtle holo effect. I could not wait to try this one so wore it straight away. I have taken lots of pics and done a full review for you, will post that very soon.......

Konad M57, M20 - China Glaze Sky High Top/Bermuda Getaway/Bahamian Escape

2010-06-04T07:24:00.000+01:00

Okay, I swatched Sky High Top yesterday, I loved this polish, bright and beautiful, it can be found here.......now for the Konad!!

I decided to try a bit of konad layering, not something I have really done before. I used three blues from China Glaze, keeping it tone on tone and more subtle in look.
I used plate M57 and the fishnet design, then added this to every nail using China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway, to add a little depth to the nail.

This actually looked really good on it's own, but I decided to carry on......
So, using the flowers from plate M20 I added them to the edge of each nail in a lighter blue, China Glaze Bahamian Escape.

This gave a very nice combination of colours and designs. I really did like this, it was not in your face and looked very pretty.

China Glaze polish - Sky High Top

2010-06-03T09:13:00.000+01:00

Been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so I needed something bright and bold to cheer me up.
In comes China Glaze and Sky High Top, a very pretty mid blue, bright but not garish, it has a hint of silvery shimmer adding a little lift and interest to it.

This applied like a dream, very smooth and opaque in two coats. Drying time was good too.
This is such a pretty colour, you can't fail to feel brighter when wearing it. China Glaze just do bright colours so well, they never look flat and boring.

This polish had good wear time as well. With a layer of SV top coat it lasted four days before it chipped, pretty good for me, most last only two days on me. I did add a konad on day two just to change it a bit, will post that in the next day or two........

OPI haul

2010-06-01T13:53:00.000+01:00

Yep, another haul post. I am trying to get my must have colours as I have missed out on some already and regretted it. So I am still searching out my must haves :o)

I was desperate for most of these polishes, I love pinks and there were a few that were calling my name......

Suzi & the Lifeguard, Por Favor, Japanese Rose Garden and Shorts Story

Suzi & the Lifeguard, a pretty shimmery pale pink. I have so many creme pinks, I needed a few shimmers. So delicate and very flattering. I can't remember how long I have wanted this!

Por Favor, a pretty cool-toned pink (my favourite kind of pink). it has a subtle shimmer and is very pretty. Another long needed polish. I almost didn't get this as I read on a blog that it was the same colour as Japanese Rose Garden but shimmery. I'm glad I ignored it as they are different, Por Favor is a shade or two lighter than JRG, as you can see in the picture.

Japanese Rose Garden, this one is a deeper cool-toned pink creme, though it has a teeny bit of shimmer in the right light, not obvious but not a really flat creme either.

Shorts Story, a sweet, brighter pink, more of a Barbie pink I guess. A good solid creme and lovely shade.

and some more random shades...........

Bikini Envy, Love me Tender and OPI & Apple Pie

I have been lusting after Bikini Envy for months and months now, I knew I wanted it badly but could only find it for a silly price. I caved, thanks to Hubby, who bought it for me. Such a beautiful pale shimmery lime. Reminds me of the sweets, Chocolate Limes!

Love me Tender was a bit disappointing, I thought it was going to be more pink from photos, but it has more peach than I was after, oh well. Still quite pretty though as it has gold shimmer.

OPI & Apple Pie, ah, now I know this is one of OPI's most hated polishes, I guess this is why I wanted it, I had to own the one everyone hates, I'm weird like that LOL. I actually quite like it, a burnt caramel orange.

More to come soon..........

Nails Inc Mini Haul - Ice Cream Collection and In Style Candy

2010-05-31T14:39:00.001+01:00

I went shopping at the weekend, trying to get new drugstore polishes, but when I saw them I realised I had colours really close to them already, so walked away, the choice just wasn't that great. Though I did get a few of the new Barry M ones, I do like Barry M stuff :o), but everything else was just a tad boring. I did pick up some of the older Urban Decay polishes from eBay, and they are great, will swatch those as soon as they arrive.

I find it hard to buy polishes in person now. I much prefer buying online. I can check swatches and see if I have any dupes already, see what people say about the application etc. In the shops I can't do this, and most high street polishes look like dupes or are too easy to dupe, do you find this?.......anyway, I digress, on with the post...

You know, I only ever buy Nails Inc when I can get them free with a magazine or promotion, or when they sell them in a Gift set, so I get value for money. They are lovely polishes, but I cannot ever see myself paying £10.50 for one single polish when I can get Zoya, OPI, Nubar or China Glaze instead. Not sure why.......I just don't see them as high end polishes I guess.

Anyway, I got this one, the Ice Cream Collection. It is a set of four spring/summer polish colours, pretty typical to what you can see around at the moment. But I am a sucker for a gift pack and with ribbon too, plus the £20 price tag was okay, making them only £5 each, much better pricing :o)

I also got the In Style Candy a few weeks back, which came free with In Style magazine.

Maple Street - a sugary pink creme, not the usual pink but more blush, there is a slight coral tone to this one.
Spring Mews - this is a light mint green creme, incredibly close to Barry M Mint Green which is really only a shade or two lighter, so if you have that one, you don't really need this, though I do prefer the Nails Inc one as its more opaque.
Strawberry Hill - a rich, deep pink, verging on hot pink,but slightly more dusky/muted.
Devonshire Row - a deep royal purple creme, again verging on dusky/muted

InStyle Candy - a lilac creme, leaning towards pink

Application on all of these was very good. They are nice opaque cremes with great coverage, almost one coaters, just needed a second to tidy it up. I was actually pretty impressed with the quality, very nice. Not one of these were chalky at all.

Nice set if you don't already have colours like this, but chances are you will have some very close......as for the Candy one, a little bit more different to any in my current collection, but I have seen ones like this around this season.
;o)

Konad M57 - OPI Sand in my Suit

2010-05-29T18:33:00.001+01:00

This is my entry into this weeks PHD mani challenge, with an Animal theme.

Now I usually do more bright or un-natural animal prints so this time I wanted it to look more neutral and true to life. Subtle and Animal prints don't always go together, they do tend to be very in your face, so trying to tone it down was a challenge in itself.

I used a base of OPI Sand in my Suit, swatched and reviewed here......

First I sponged a line through the centre of my ring and thumb nails, using OPI Over the Taupe. This added just the right amount of natural looking shading under the leopard print to make it look more realistic and less flat looking. I then stamped over the top using plate M57 and Barry M Grey. Lastly I filled in the odd spot using a light cream polish.

I am fairly pleased with the result, it does look soft and more understated, not easy for animal prints lol

Will definitely try this one again.

OPI polish - Sand in my Suit

2010-05-28T16:49:00.001+01:00

A quick swatch for you :o)

I have had OPI's Sand in my Suit for a while now, too many untried nail polishes means it is taking forever to wear them all. I am buying faster than I wear them now, yikes !

This is a lovely neutral colour with a soft shimmer, not frosty, just subtle, enough to lift it and stop it looking flat.
Application was lovely, nice and smooth. I have used two coats here and it is pretty opaque and is bottle colour.

I am surprised by how much I like this. It is so pretty, just the right amount of shimmer. Some neutrals can look very flat but this is lovely. Will be wearing this a lot throughout summer.

Bundle Monster Plates, Detailed Review and Konad Comparison.

2010-05-27T09:28:00.005+01:00

Okay, anyone who uses Konad has probably heard of the Bundle Monster plates by now.
If not then let me help you out, Bundle Monster is the name of an Amazon.com seller that has created their own fauxnad plates. There are currently 21 plates and they are the same kind of thing as Konad, various designs etched into the round metal plate.

There are some really cute designs too, I actually bought mine for one single design! LOL Sad eh? Sorry, but the lipstick design was so flipping cute it had to be done, see my French Kiss mani here.

They are really good value for money as you get 21 plates for $17.99 plus shipping. I got mine for $22 including shipping from the USA to the UK. The shipping was very fast too. I ordered on Sunday, they shipped on Monday and I got them by Saturday! Pretty good eh?

Okay, so what do I think now they are here? Well, as I said, I only bought them for one design, so anything I liked above that was a bonus. I actually have to say I like from 2 to 4 designs on each plate, so pretty good going. There are some really fun designs too, loving those. They are packaged in three sets of seven plates, in clear plastic wrappers similar to Konad. They are the same size as Konad plates too. All good so far huh?

BM plate compared to a Konad plate

Well, it's not all great news........
The plates are just metal, there is a layer of clear plastic on the top that you have to remove before stamping and there is no paper backing as you get on the Konad plates, and herein lies their biggest issue.......they are super sharp!!! I mean seriously scary to handle. Luckily I already knew about this before I bought them so I handle them with care, keeping my fingers from the edges, but if you were not aware of this, you could very easily cut yourself, and probably pretty deep too (I have seen a few pics online of BM cuts already, ouch!).

If you get these plates, please do be very careful when handling them. I would hate anyone to get hurt. When removing the plastic layer I found it best to lay the plate on a paper towel, press in the middle of the plate to keep it firm as you scratch near the edge with your nail, after a few strokes it will begin to come away. Keep scratching until there is enough to peel it back. This way you don't put your fingers near the sharp edges. This worked for me, easily and safely.

The lines etched on the plates seem a bit thicker than konad, so a few designs lack detail, but the huge majority are really good. Though there are a few bizarre ones, chilli peppers anyone ;o) LOL.
To those that don't know, there is a chilli pepper design that really looks like a scrotum, no honestly, it actually does.....

They don't appear to be etched quite as deeply as Konad plates, but I had a quick try with one design and it seemed to be okay as long as you don't scrape too firmly, otherwise you will remove the polish from the larger more solid designs. They don't always seem to scrape cleanly either, sometimes leaving too much polish on the surface of the metal, meaning you have to scrape again. Some practice soon gets it right though, so all good there.
Also the full nail designs and tip designs are small, smaller than Konad, and I already struggle with Konad full nail designs on one of my thumbs, so I will have to adapt these to suit. Shame as there are some nice full nail ones, if only they were made just a tad bigger.....

Here are two pics showing the difference in size of the BM full nail compared to Konad full nail, plus the BM tips compared to Konad tips.......Both stamped using Konad Special polish in Black and stamped onto white paper. Luckily they both had a full nail and tip design that was the same on both brands, made the comparison much more accurate. Sizes for both can be seen also, using mm's.

Full Nail Houndstooth

See how the BM plate doesn't finish the design as cleanly as the Konad. BM seems to cut off the design whereas Konad ends it more neatly. Plus the design is smaller, more so on the width, which could cause problems as I struggled with the width of the Konad plates on one of my thumbs, the BM will not fit my thumb at all now, so some inventive use of patterns will have to be done. Either turn design sideways and try to match pattern (not easy) or just use a partial design on thumbs in a creative way, or just scrap the full nail altogether and use them as tip designs.

Tips Checkerboard

These have the same neat finish to the pattern but the size is quite different on these ones,

much more obvious than the full nail ones.

It may still fit my thumb, but only just, whereas Konad tips give you plenty of room to play.

So, do I think they are a good deal? Yes
Would I buy them again? Yes
Do I think they are as good quality as Konad? No

Okay, so they are a bit on the sharp side, but if you know this beforehand, you can be extra careful and not touch the edges.
The full nail designs are too small, but you can adapt them with some thought.
The designs are good, some cute ones too and more choice is always a good thing.
Above all, they are great value for money, 21 plates for $18, $22 (£15) shipped to the UK, you can't really complain about that, great deal and lots of fun.

I will be having a go at some more designs using these plates soon, so keep watch. To recap, my French Kiss design posted yesterday can be seen here. In the meantime you can get your own set from Amazon.com marketplace.

Konad/BundleMonster mani - French Kiss!

2010-05-26T15:17:00.004+01:00

As soon as I got my Bundle Monster plates, I knew I had to do this mani, it was crying out to be done!!!

The only reason I bought the BM plates was because of the lipstick print design, how could I not do a French mani and call it French Kiss? Come on.........

So I used two coats of Zoya Lucy (reviewed here), my goto HG French base colour, love it! I then stamped in white using Konad M19 for the tips. One more coat of Lucy over the top, to soften it.......and that is my basic French mani routine.
Now comes the fun bit, add the lipstick design from BM02 in red and a final top coat and you are done!

in natural light, outdoors

Simple, quick and lots of fun, a great French Kiss!

Review of Bundle Monster plates coming in the next few days........

Zoya Polish - Lucy

2010-05-26T08:09:00.001+01:00

As you know, I have been spreading my wings and venturing into Zoya-land recently. I must admit, they are stunning polishes and I am loving them all!

Today I have Lucy for you, a soft white jelly-like polish, perfect for French mani's.
I cannot express how much I love this polish, it is the most perfect sheer white I have ever tried! It just does not streak, the jelly type consistency means it goes on beautifully with no streaks in sight, don't you just love that!?

I was so impressed with this one that I actually bought a second one as a back-up! Perfect, non-streaky whites do not happen very often. It is pure love.......

It was great with one coat, added just a brightening effect to the nail. Two coats was really great, nice and lifted colour but with a still visible nail bed. I used three coats, and this gave a more almost opaque, whitened look to the nail bed, which I loved as my nail beds are really pink normally. Makes your hand look healthy, fresh and tanned.

I used Konad plate M19 for the french tips and konad white polish. I used two coats of Lucy, stamped the tips then added a third coat of Lucy. A top coat of SV gave a very finished look to this mani, loved it.

If you are looking for a great, non-streaky sheer white for French mani's, or just to brighten your nails, I highly recommend Zoya Lucy. It has become my HG sheer white.

Oops I did it again - Zoya haulage!!!!

2010-05-25T14:43:00.000+01:00

I know, I know........I only just got some new Zoya's, but I mean, how can you not get these amazing colours!?

I had to get the new Charla, as everyone is raving about it, and with very good reason too, it is fabulous! But then, I had to add a few more, then a few days after I got those, I ordered a few more, and here we are, with a pretty good haul!

Next I think I need to join Polishaholics Anonymous, as I cannot stop browsing for new colours all the time, checking out swatches, adding more to the ever growing wishlist, you know how it is.......

Anyway, enough of that boring ramble.......let's show you the scrummy Zoya goodness! :o)

I still have another three on the way, ordered only this morning, shame on me ......... but Yay! More scrummyness :o)

Swatches coming soon!!!!!

China Glaze polish - Second Hand Silk

2010-05-24T18:43:00.000+01:00

I got this in a recent China Glaze haul, I must admit, I think China Glaze are my favourite polishes, they just do some of the best shades and the quality is really good too.
I absolutely adore pinks, my real weakness is the blue-toned pinks, I love them. The blue tone stops them looking too sickly, as some pinks can.

I have two China Glaze blue-toned pinks, this and Pink Underground, which I swatched here and Konaded here.
Second hand silk is very similar in tone, but is a few shades lighter than Pink Underground, with a slightly creamier look, Pink Underground has a blue shimmer that is obvious in the bottle but not so much on the nail, Second Hand Silk is a definite creme. Both are in my top pinks, love them.

It was a lovely formula and applied wonderfully, very smooth and not too thick, opaque in two coats.

I just love this one so much, I also put it on my toes and it looks great on both fingers and toes, loving China Glaze!!!

China Glaze polish - Ginger

2010-05-23T08:51:00.001+01:00

I got this quite a while ago now and just haven't had the chance to wear it till now.
It is a lovely coppery polish, sparsely filled with tiny glitter and larger holo glitter. I love that it isn't packed full of glitter, it looks less caked this way and is easier to remove!
It is pure scrummy-ness in a bottle!

Just look at the blingy holo!!

indoors with flash

outdoors, sunlight

I wore this on my Wedding Anniversary, we went out for dinner and it looked great, Hubby loved it.
We spent more time looking and my hands sparkling than we did looking at each other, it blinged all night LOL

Konad M73 - Collection 2000 Button Moon/China Glaze Adore

2010-05-21T06:50:00.000+01:00

I reviewed Collection 2000's Button Moon a little while ago, you can see that swatch here. The finish was a bit chalky so, of course, it had to be konaded. Though, to be fair it would have looked great with just a top coat to get rid of the chalky look..

I used two coats of Button Moon and then used plate M73 and the floral full nail design. I chose China Glaze Adore for the design, it compliments the base colour, bringing out the blue tone even more and gives a bit of life to the dull finish of the polish.

I really like it now, much nicer with the design and quite cute too, much better. Plus I think the contrast of finishes looks good too.

I can see I will be using this colour combo again, works really well and I love it now !

China Glaze Haul!

2010-05-20T15:08:00.002+01:00

Okay, another haul post for you, this time I have been playing catch-up hunting down some China Glaze polishes.

Innocence: a sheer jelly type creme in a milky pastel pink, perfect for French mani's

Second-Hand Silk: a beautiful lighter pink creme with a blue tone to it, no shimmer but a very cool pink, which I love. Got a super cute mani coming up soon with this one!

Sunset Glow: a stunning, almost duo-chromed medium pink, shot through with gold, this is a stunner. Very opaque this one!

Naked: a shimmery, almost glass-flecked type sugar pink.

Code Orange: a lovely orange with a hint of shimmer, obvious in the bottle but more creme like on the nail. Not scary bright neon orange, just nice and easy to wear.

Passion in the Pacific: a rich ocean green/blue. Leans more green than blue, very shimmery/frost finish, almost verging on metallic.

BFF: a wonderful warm mauvy pink holo from the OMG collection

GR8: a stunning gold holo from the same collection

Spin Me Round: a lovely beige/bronze holo from the Kaleidoscope collection, larger holo than the OMG's

He's Going in Circles: a pale aqua green holo from the same collection

Some really pretty polishes. I will be swatching them all as soon as I can.
I have a gorgeous mani coming up very soon with Second-Hand Silk and a swatch of Spin Me Round too, so keep watch!

Some New Pages for Konad and Polish on my blog!

2010-05-19T09:07:00.000+01:00

I have created some pages for polish swatches and Konad stuff.

They can be found using the links across the top of the page, under the banner.

There are now dedicated pages for Konad tips and tricks and Konad polish swatches, I am hoping they will be of help to new Konaders and old. You can see tips I have learnt along the way and swatches of the konad polish I currently have over different coloured bases.

There are also pages for Konad Gallery and Polish swatches, so you can see designs I have created and swatches I have done, all in one easy to find place.

There is also a page listing My Polish Stash, so you can see what I currently have in my collection, adding to that all the time ;o)

I hope these new pages help you out with your Konading and polish buying. I just wanted some valuable information be be easier to find and in one place !

Polish Comparisons - Oranges

2010-05-18T07:16:00.000+01:00

Okay, here is another in my series of polish comparisons, this time we are covering the oranges.......

China Glaze Peachy Keen, OPI In my Back Pocket
and OPI Chop-sticking to my Story

Rimmel Pro Orange Bliss, Barry M Orange
and China Glaze Orange Marmalade

All polishes were pictured with two coats, all applied very well indeed and gave a great finish.

China Glaze Peachy Keen - a very opaque creme in a light to mid peach shade. Opaque in two coats.

OPI In my Back Pocket - a mid orange creme, not too bright, slightly muted in tone. Very pretty and opaque in two coats.

OPI Chop-sticking to my Story - a rich burnt, darker orange creme, Very opaque, two coats used here.

China Glaze Orange Marmalade - a slightly more sheer polish in a rich bright mid orange, filled with glass type flecks. Very pretty indeed and great coverage in two coats, three may be better if you prefer completely opaque.

Barry M Orange - a standard bright orange creme. Opaque in two coats

Rimmel Pro Orange Bliss - a more deep peachy orange creme. Opaque in two coats.

All very pretty. My personal favourites are China Glaze Orange Marmalade, as it is so pretty with the glass flecks.......and OPI Chop-sticking to my Story, as it is just so opaque and a lovely shade of burnt orange, when you want to be more subtle and not so in your face.

Konad M73, M36 - Misa Dirty Sexy Money/No7 Totally Teal

2010-05-16T08:27:00.000+01:00

This Konad was inspired by a challenge post on Polish Hoarder Disorder's blog.
She has decided to run a weekly mani challenge. The first challenge she posted was to create a mani using at least two colours from her choice of green, red, teal and white. We were asked to include glitter somewhere and to create it using a Vintage theme. We send our mani pics to her and she posts the results on her blog for all to see. No prizes or anything like that, but we all get to see what kind of creations everyone comes up with, using the same colours and theme, very interesting and loads of fun to do.

So here is my version........

Firstly I used Misa Dirty Sexy Money, (swatched and reviewed here), on all fingers except the ring finger, on this I used No7 Totally Teal. I then stamped a design from plate M73. I felt these muted colours and the pattern were perfect for a Vintage themed mani.
On the lighter Misa nails I used the darker No7, and on the dark No7 nail I used the lighter Misa.

I then stamped a butterfly from plate M36, using konad white and then used a top coat of CG Wireless holographic. This gave a very subtle covering of tiny glitter that would not obscure the design too much.

I really enjoyed this challenge, and am looking forward to the next one, any I do will be posted here so you can all seem them :)

Quick Zoya Haul Post!

2010-05-14T16:00:00.004+01:00

I have desperately been trying not to buy Zoya polishes since I got back into my polishes 7 months ago. Not because I have anything against them, but because they are expensive here in the UK. Plus I already buy OPI, China Glaze, Nubar, Orly, Misa, Barry M and Nails Inc, so I thought if I stayed away it would help keep my addiction slightly more under control, yeah right! ;o)

Trouble was their colours are so pretty, I love the shimmery ones, then I saw Posh matte and it was love........ I tried to resist, I held out for around 5 months once I saw it, pretty good really. But I caved last week, I just had to have it.

So many polishes I wanted have disappeared and I doubt I will be able to get them again, so I went on a spree trying to seek out all the polishes I had wanted for months. I would have been so upset if I missed out on Posh. So be prepared for some haul posts coming up, as I bought lots of China Glazes and OPI's too ;o)

Well, once I had ordered that one, I thought I may as well get more than I had my eye on......so, I ended up with seven!

Lucy, Felicity, Zara, Midori, Irene, Tallulah and Posh (matte)

Here they are swatched,
I didn't swatch Lucy as it is just a sheer white and it would not show well on the false nail.

I love them all, the colours are all so pretty, delicate and feminine. I don't know what they do differently to others, like China Glaze, but Zoya's are real girly, delicate shades, whereas China Glaze are kick-ass groovy colours.

Was it worth it? YES!
Do I wish I had bought them before? YES!
Will I get more Zoya's? HELL YEAH!

I will take proper photos for you as I wear them....

PS: Hope you like the new banner!?

Misa Polish - Dirty Sexy Money

2010-05-13T06:49:00.001+01:00

I bought this polish months ago and have only just gotten around to trying it out. Shame on me!
This is a very popular polish, it gets mentions on nearly every blog or forum you visit, therefore, it was a must have for me. Now I have tried it I can see why everyone loves this so much, it is one amazing colour.

I find Misa polishes to be really great application wise, they always seem to be very smooth, never gloopy and opaque in two coats. This one was no exception, applied wonderfully and was very opaque. It is a lovely shade of green, it has a deep dusky quality to it, with a hint of teal and a creme finish, scrummy !

If you don't already have this in your polish stash, go get it! Quality, application and colour payoff are all fabulous. It is a true classic and I am very happy to have it in my collection.

Sleek Palette - Graphite

2010-05-12T06:30:00.006+01:00

Here is another of my Sleek Palette swatches/reviews. This week we have the Graphite palette, one of the limited edition palettes.

Swatches of the previously reviewed palettes can be seen here: Bohemian, Safari.

This palette was a must buy for me as I love smokey eyes and I use loads of greys, so this was just perfect for me. Being a limited edition one also made it one I had to get my hands on fast. SO on release day I went off to Superdrug and picked one up, they were flying out so quick!

This palette is really all metallics with the exception of one matte shade. It is full of greys, black, navy, purple and a couple of highlight colours. A great mix for any smokey eyed look.

Colours inside:

1. White metallic
2. Cream metallic
3. Silver metallic
4. Light grey metallic
5. Light/mid grey metallic
6. Mid grey metallic
7. Mid/dark grey metallic
8. Dark grey metallic
9. Black matte
10. Slate blue metallic
11. Navy metallic
12. Purple metallic

A great palette for smokey-eyes. Okay, so it has a lot of the same shades, but then it is designed to be for darker looks, so it does what is sets out to do, and it does it well. One of my fav ones this one.

More Sleek palettes next week!

Polish Comparison request for Abbzzw - Barry M Mint Green/Collection 2000 Button Moon

2010-05-11T07:32:00.002+01:00

Okay, a little post to update yesterdays one.

In the comments yesterday I had one from Abbzzw, thinking that Collection 20000 Button Moon was the same as Barry M Mint Green. I think they are quite different, so I offered to compare them for her and post it here......

As you will see Barry M Mint Green is just that, a mint green creme, Collection 2000 Button Moon is actually more of a baby blue, though it does have green in there, it is I guess more of an aqua than mint or blue........

bottles, indoor, flash

bottles indoor, no flash

indoor with flash

outdoors, sunlight (bit washed out)

All the swatches show two coats of each colour. Barry M applied the nicest, but Collection 2000 was slightly more opaque, but more chalky, both looked fine with two coats.

indoors, flash

Well, Abbzzw, I hope this gives you a better idea of how they look and that they are not really as close as you thought, you can get both! Hooray!!!!
If you get them from Boots or Superdrug, then you can always compare them in store, then you can see the difference clearly, though Button Moon applies a little more blue on the nail than in the bottle.
I hope this post has been on some help to you.

Collection 2000 polish - Button Moon

2010-05-10T07:07:00.000+01:00

I bought a few Collection 2000 polishes from Boots a few months ago and I have finally gotten round to wearing one! These polishes are super cheap at under £2, but they are small bottles too, so not as cheap as it first appears.

I applied two coats, it was very streaky on the first coat. It was opaque, but quite chalky, would be better with a top coat, the photo shows it without one. It is fast dry and I am never keen on quick dry polishes, they always seem very thick and chalky to me, haven't found a good one yet.

It is a very pale, pastel mint in the bottle, though I hesitate to call it mint as it definitely leans more towards blue than green and this looks more obvious on the nail, at least to me.

Not bad for a fairly cheap polish, but I still prefer my China Glaze's, OPI's and Nubars for application and finish.
Konad coming in a few days......

Konad M78 - E.L.F Dark Navy

2010-05-07T09:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya!

I reviewed the E.L.F polish a few days back, was not very impressed I have to say, you can see it here....

I thought I would Konad over it to see if it helped me love it, it didn't..........not Konad's fault, I love the design, but I just hate the base polish so much I don't think anything would make me love it.

I used Konad pastel blue and the design from plate M78, I love this one, it is one of my favourites of the new designs. It does improve the polish somewhat, but I still hate the E.L.F polish and as a result just didn't enjoy this one as much as I should have. Will try it again later with new colours.

Sleek Palette - Safari

2010-05-06T08:39:00.000+01:00

Here is another of my Sleek Palette swatches/reviews. This week we have the Safari palette, one of the limited edition palettes.

Swatches of the previously reviewed palettes can be seen here: Bohemian

This palette was love at first sight, I knew I had to have this one the moment I saw pics of it online. I love earthy colours, I feel safer using neutrals and dusky shades for everyday, they just work so well and always give a nice sophisticated look, so this palette was a must have for me.

This palette has a mix of matte and shimmery, though more shimmery shades this time, nine out of the twelve. It is full of rich, earthy tones, from browns and golds, to deep greens.

Colours inside:

1. Black matte
2. Bright yellow gold metallic
3. Khaki green metallic (gorgeous!)
4. Moss green metallic
5. Rich burnt orange metallic
6. Mid yellow gold metallic
7. Pale fawn matte
8. Buttermilk matte
9. Bright grass green matte
10. Dark green metallic
11. Gold metallic
12. Brown/bronze metallic

These are some fabulous colours, they really do suit the safari name and work so well together.

This has to be one of my favourite Sleek palettes, it just ticks all the boxes for me, love it!

More Sleek palettes soon!

E.L.F polish - Dark Navy

2010-05-04T07:15:00.000+01:00

I have another swatch for you, once again, forgive the short nails!

This polish is from the E.L.F range and is really cheap. However, I think it shows, it applies okay in two coats, but it just doesn't look as nice as say China Glaze, or even Barry M polishes. It seems thin and as a result, it is hard to get the edges crisp and it shows any ridges in your nail and just generally looks just passable. Looks nice in the bottle but kind of flat on the nail.

I bought a few of them and I don't think I will be ordering any more. There are just too many good polishes out there to bother with these. Barry M do an amazing range at really cheap prices, not as cheap as these, but they are far better quality.

Gosh Lipstick - Darling

2010-05-02T08:33:00.000+01:00

I have read so much about this lipstick on many blogs now. I do like nude lipsticks, as I am fair in colouring and tend to emphasise my eyes most, I prefer my lips to be more natural looking.

I already have one great nude type lipstick that I adore, Urban Decay's Naked, a pale pink lipstick that just looks great with my skin. It is nice quality but doesn't really last more than a few hours, but I do love it anyway.

Having heard so much about Gosh Darling I thought it was time to hunt it out and give it a go. At £6 it is reasonably priced, compared to my Urban Decay Naked at £11. But would it be as nice?

The packaging is lovely, very classy. Just a nice plain black, slightly rubberised case, with a shiny metal band in black, bearing the Gosh name. The case has a good strong click to its closure too, meaning it shouldn't come loose in your bag!

Well it is a very nice lippy. The colour is more of a beige than UD Naked. It is a proper nude with a slightly peachy tone, not quite pink but not too far off. It is nice and slick, leaving my lips feeling supple. You have to be careful that your lips are smooth though, otherwise it will sit in cracks or on dry bits and look awful. Luckily mine are okay so it looked even and gave my lips a nice muted look. It turns my lips more beige and so more skin toned, as my lips are naturally very pink, so this is good for me as another option. It has little staying power though, less than UD Naked at only around an hour or so, so reapplication is a must with this one.

I am very happy with this addition to my lipsticks. Sometimes I need a beige nude instead of a pink nude, so now I have both options with UD Naked and Gosh Darling. It will now sit in my most used cosmetics pile.

I will see if I can review Urban Decay Naked in a future post if you wanted to see it, just let me know :)

Polish Comparisons - Glitters

2010-05-01T08:38:00.000+01:00

Hello!

Today's comparison is my teeny collection of full on glitter polishes. I don't have many, as I don't wear them that often, but the ones I have, I love!

OPI Absolutely Alice & Mad as a Hatter,

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, Ginger, Fortune Teller

OPI's Absolutely Alice and Mad as a Hatter

OPI Absolutely Alice - is a favourite of mine. I adore this polish. It is very densly filled with tiny blue glitter and sprinkled through with gold. It is breath-taking and sure to become a classic. Such an amazing colour and just solid glitter. You can see my review/swatch and konad of Alice here.

OPI Mad as a Hatter - is a blingy one! Filled with mainly silver small glitter, but also generous amounts of many other colours, it glimmers and sparkles like crazy, not for the faint of heart! Not quite as dense as Alice, but still can be built for great coverage.

China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle, Ginger and Fortune Teller

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle - okay, not much I can say here, it's a classic, iconic polish. Loads of tiny green glitter in a deep green jelly like polish. It has so much depth to it , it has to be seen to be believed, a real beauty.

China Glaze Ginger - a fabulous polish this one. A base colour of an almost metallic coppery shade sparsley filled with teeny silvery glitter and larger round holographic glitter. I love this one, glittery but not overkill, just a sprinkling of glittery goodness.

China Glaze Fortune Teller - I lusted after this for ages, it is such a amazing polish. It is a black base filled with two types of orange glitter, small and larger hexagonal shapes. It just looks like glowing embers.

Konad M77 - Rimmel Frisky Clover

2010-04-30T10:25:00.000+01:00

I have been going through some real stress with my nails lately. They have been breaking constantly, so I am trying not to punish them too much and rest them for a bit to recover. So please excuse the short nails and the badly shaped thumbnail, it ripped off really bad and low on one side, ouch!
All this polish and acetone is taking its toll.......

A few days ago I posted a swatch of Rimmel's Frisky Clover, this can be seen here.

I used one of the new Konad plates, M77 and the grass type design. I used Konad Pastel Green to stamp the design. It is a very sweet design, delicate and spring-like.

Been buying some more polishes too, so will have to do a haul post when they arrive. Will get busy and try to do more konads, I am missing doing them as often as I used to, need some prettiness back in my life!

Have a lovely weekend!

Rimmel polish - Frisky Clover

2010-04-28T08:22:00.001+01:00

I have a Rimmel swatch for you today, a pretty shade called Frisky Clover.

It is a rich pinky, peachy creme, it has a teeny bit of shimmer to it though, not a flat creme. It comes from their 60 second range, it applies quite gloopy, but is very opaque. Great with two coats and a pretty nice finish.

I quite liked this one. I wasn't too sure in the bottle, but on the nail it looks very pretty and spring-like. Will have to try a konad on it too, will show that next post.

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer review - my new HG?

2010-04-26T11:10:00.001+01:00

I am always buying new concealers, it is a bit of an obsession with me, I just never seem to be able to find my Holy Grail concealer!

I saw this one in Superdrug and decided to try it out. It appears to be similar to YSL Touche Eclait, which I hate. I think it is a very over-rated product that does nothing for me personally and it is so expensive too. This one looks similar and costs only £5.99 rrp though Superdrug had it on offer at only £3.99! Much cheaper than YSL which cost me around £23 last time I bought it.

This claims to conceal and highlight in one, as well as blend to your skin tone, Mmmmm, I wasn't so sure about that claim!! I got the Ivory shade as I am fair to medium toned skin. There were two darker shades available too, though none were very dark, so maybe they should create more shades, three seems a bit sparse.

I do suffer with dark circles, lack of sleep really shows on me and I never seem to be able to cover them convincingly, improve them yes, cover no.

The concealer I normally use the most is Benefit Boing in Fair, though it is a bit too light for me. I find it does give okay coverage for under-eyes, but it is drying and can settle into fine lines after a few hours, not a great look. I always applied lightly with a brush then patted it into my skin. It was okay, better than most, but just not quite there for me. At £15.50 it is not cheap either.

So I gave this new Rimmel a try, very sceptical about its claims........well, it goes on very smooth. It has a built5 in brush and the concealer is squeezed through the brush (same as YSL), the concealer is a lightweight cream, not claggy at all. I used the brush to sweep a small amount over the dark area under my eye, then patted it into place. It covers very well and the colour matched my skin to perfection. I was very surprised about the colour match to be honest, most Ivory shades tend to be a tad too light for me, but this is perfect. Maybe the match perfection claim is true!?

My husband even said he could see a huge difference when I showed him, he was very impressed and thought it made my dark areas almost invisible. I too was very impressed, but how would it wear? After all it is very cheap......well, by the end of the day, a good eight hours later, it had not moved at all, it still gave the same coverage it had when I applied it, and even better, it had not settled into my fine lines!

before blending, not quite my shade, fairly obvious on my skin
(swatch done on my inner arm, so it is very light, my face is a little darker)

after blending, virtually invisible!
(swatch done on my inner arm, so it is very light, my face is a little darker,
but it still blends the same!)

I have to say, I am hugely impressed with this and I think I may have finally found my Holy Grail of concealers ! I love this stuff, cheap, easy to find and it actually works and stays put all day and leaves your fine lines alone.

Available from Boots, Superdrug and most UK supermarkets.